Re: "Are you outraged by Rick Warren"

Regarding "Are you outraged by Rick Warren?", I am outraged that some people do not believe that all people should have the same rights. I strongly support gay rights and the right of gays to marry.

I'm also outraged that some people have little tolerance for engaging others in a dialog and want to shut out those who do not hold the same beliefs. I believe in diplomacy. We must bring different sides together to engage in discussion and reach a peaceful resolution.

Thus I believe Obama is right to have Rick Warren at his inauguration and to stick with this decision even though it outrages some. I still believe that Obama is going to be more centrist than many give him credit for. He needs to be a unifier to accomplish what the US and our world needs accomplished. We need a leader who can build trust among those who may disagree, not one who will force others to see it their way or the highway.

Obama knows what he is doing. Having Rick Warren give the inaugural invocation is a difficult yet good choice. It is time for us to move on and build bridges, not isolate each other and build more walls.

The time will come, hopefully sooner than later, when all will recognize that gays have a natural right to marry. That day will come sooner if more engage in dialog so that each recognizes others as humans too, instead of hate speech which brands one group or the other as this or that thus exchanging dialog for shouting matches where neither side can listen to the other.

Sincerely,

Tim Oey

Obama is Right -- Build, don't Destroy

See the NY Times article: Obama Pledges Public Works on a Vast Scale

Obama's approach is right on the money. We must build ourselves up to improve our country and our world -- instead of knocking others down as George W. Bush and the Republicans were fond of doing (as in Iraq).

Those "Borrow and Spend" Republicans deserve to be in the dog house for a very long time. Obama has tons of challenges ahead thanks to the multiple messes that the Republicans have created: The Economic Collapse, The Iraq Mess (due to lack of good regulation, over spending, over borrowing, making war on others, negative campaigning, etc).

Obama's team is looking very good and has been masterful in keeping a steady stream of positive developments flowing as he approaches the presidency. Obama built up more goodwill for the United States in the eyes of the world during his campaign then Bush did during his entire 8 years. Obama is getting more accomplished for the US in the time between his election and his inauguration than Bush did during his entire 8 years. If Obama keeps this up, he will be one of the best Presidents in US history.

The Shoe That Roared

The war in Iraq cost the US 2 trillion+ dollars and helped cause the current economic crisis (a bad role model of borrowing and spending immense amounts of money).

More Americans lost their lives in Iraq then due to all Al Qaeda terrorist activities combined.

The goodwill the rest of the world had toward the US after 9/11 and prior to the Iraq war reversed itself in disgust as a direct result of the Iraq war.

This one small act of defiance, resonates not just in Iraq but across the world.

Read more in the NY Times at: Iraqi Journalist Hurls Shoes at Bush and Denounces Him on TV as a ‘Dog’

Iraq Rebuilding a Mess

We (the US) really stuck our foot in it. We should never have gone into Iraq.

See: New report slams U.S. reconstruction of Iraq: report

Clean Coal Not, Wind and Solar Yes

The viable energy alternatives analysis done by Mark Z Jacobson at Stanford looks great to me. Check it out at "Wind, water and sun beat other energy alternatives, study finds".

Silly Aussie Censorship

Sorry Australia. The Australian government plan to try do nationwide censoring of the internet is simply a bad idea. Parents themselves should be more responsible for their kids. The nanny government approach is fraught with problems and dangers.

Read more at in the Dec 11, 2008 NY Times article Proposed Web Filter Criticized in Australia.

Corruption

I am aghast that the elected governor of a state would be so corrupt as to try to sell a seat in the US Senate -- Obama's former seat. One would have hoped that the process of becoming governor would screen out people prone to this kind of corruption.

Corruption is a huge problem worldwide. The US has some but relatively little overall. In many other parts of the world it is common place. If a system allows it to happen, or even worse encourages it, it will happen. Systems (political, financial, legal) must either be transparent or have a good mechanism of checks and balances to prevent or at least minimize corruption. The US has pretty reasonable political, financial, and legal checks and balances. Yet it still is not enough to completely stop corruption as evidenced here.

I'm happy that at least one serious academic, notably Larry Lessig, has decided to study corruption in detail. Although his focus is more on the everday sort of corruption vs the blatant corruption that is evident in the case against Illinois governor Rod R. Blagojevich.

Read more in the 12/10/2008 NY Times article: Illinois Governor Charged in Scheme to Sell Obama’s Seat.